The Clinton chronicle. (Clinton, S.C.) 1901-current, March 26, 1936, Image 7
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THURSDAY, MARCH 26. 1936
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i THE CUNTON C^ina,E. CUNTON, S. C.
T
REX BEAC-H
FIRST installment I some estate and upon his 'breast was
For two days now arualmost con-{laid a cross made o^ two dead twigs
tirtuous stream of traffTce had flowed! which had been hurriedly tied togeth-
back and forth along the road. The
weather was dry, and dust thrown up
by passing vebicles had settled upon
j^ss and shrubbery. It penetrated
Mrs. Hoilme’s' house an<L_oovered its
scanty furnishings with a thin, gray
^ coating; it hung in the air and choked
—“^er. Dust was nothing ,new to her—
disorder
in fact/ dust, grime,
nearly always present in her house—
but now its taste was irritating ai^
it caused” her to revile the sigmseers
who had turned this back road into a
busy thoroughfare. ' **
All were morbid curiosity-seekers;
they were bound to or from the scene
of the Ethridge murder.
Mary Holmes had heard the news
_ of the crime while she was feeding
her geese two mornings before, and
had tui;ned up the road as fast as she
could go. She had been one of the first
to leach the scene of the tragedy, ar
riving nearly an hour ahead of the
policeman and the newspaper report
ers. Inasmuch as she had knowm Amps
Ethridge quite well and was his near
est neighbor, naturally she had come
in for a good deal of questioning. She
had little to tell; nevertheless it had
been an excising experience; it had
reminded her ofvold times to answer
and to parry qu^k, searching ques
tions, while reporiprial pencils flew to
’ “*keep pace with her words. The report
ers had stared at her curiously and
had wanted to know who she was—
^ all about her, in fac^—but she had
been sly enough to give them no sat
isfaction.
, ^She had remained there all day,
mingling ~with' the evw-growing
crowd, discussing the case with towns
people whom she knew-i>nly~by-^ight,
tnibbing shoulders and tailking with
utter strangers; she had walked home
at dusk with a new feeling of conse
quence, with her head higheir than us
ual, and with her heart pounding. Aa
she prepared her supper she had even
ventured cautiously to sing a few
notes-—the first in more than a year.
Anticipation of seeing her name in
lirint once again had aflfectejl her so
queerly that she slept little dudng
the night and was up and waiting agi
tatedly for the rural delivery-man.
But when she had read the morning
papers, when she had seen herself
through the eyes of those reporters,
she had been stunned, stupefied.
“The person living nearest to the
scene of the tragedy is Mary Holmei*.
a middle-aged, slatternly creature
who occupies a wretched shovel and
runs a small chicken ranch at the
rear of the Ethridge estate,” the first
skccount ran. Mrs. Holmes had read on
dizzily, ‘‘She is reputed to be a drunk
en, irresponsible character of violent
temper and eccentric habits, neverthe-
Aless she shows surprising intelligence
and unmistakable signs of education.
She was positive in her sUtement—”
etc.
The other paper had been equally
uncomplimentary. It referred to her
as “the goose woman” and it describ-
€>d her as “a queer, bedraggled, old
hag with the stride of an Amazon and
the airs of a queen.”
Mary Holmes had tom the papers
to bits, and later, when representa
tives of the afternoon papers came to
interview her, she had refused to talk
to them. But the Ethridge c^se had
grown in importance; the Chicago pa
pers had rushed men to Westland by
the- first train end these newcomers
vi^re even more inquisitive than the
local news-gatherers. This morning,
in .self-defense, Mary Holmes had
wired up her gate and nailed a sign
to it which read:
. “Keep off. Reporters trespassing on
^ this place will be shot.”
She sat now inside the opon wincTow
- at har-front room Where she could
er. Neither the body nor its immedi
ate "Sllrroundings revealed any clue to
the identity of the slayer; nothing in
dicated any reason whatever for the
crime unless a letter found in one of
Ethridge’s pockets was an indication.
This lettOFr which, by the way. Was
delicately scented, had come through
were ^e~maiT ahUISbie the Westland
postmark; the writing upon the en
velope was in a woman’s hand,* and
inside was a sheet of plain notepaper
containing the one word, “Thursday.”
'There was no signature.
Why, in the first place, a batchelor
who could come and go at his will
should make use of a narrow, unlight
ed back road instead of the broad,
macadam thoroughfare which passed
his massive front gates was puzzling;
why that cross had been laid upon the
body; why, in fact, anyone should
severfl men had. stopped before her
house; one member of the party had
stepp^ down and was trying tb dis
engage the wire fastening of* the
gate; anotljer, with w presa:^ camera
ovir his shoulder, was> getting out.
Tbe man at the gate startedHo dimb
the fence, but he was' halted midway
i)y a challenge Troin the house, and
looked up to discover that a tall wom
an 'iir 4k faded gingham dress had
merged upon the porch 'and was -fac
ing him threateningly. She was a vig-
oroqs woman, long-limbed and erect,
and she cabled her chin high. In spite
of her ill-fitting garments, her flat,
shapeless shoe3,\and her untidy halj',
there was an air of command about
her and an appearance of some conse
quence. That which caus^ the f^ce
climber to freeze into immobility,
however, was the sight of. a shotgun
in her -hands.
“Hello! You’re Mrs. Holmes, I take
it,” he began, cheerily.
“Ot off that fence!”
“Toil her who you are,” one of the
fellows in the car directed. The photo
grapher hurriedly opened the clasps
of his camera case.
. “We’fe new^per-men frem Chi
cago. We’ve been sent down hefe'on'
the Ethridge case and we—”
‘^If you are reporters, you can prob
ably read,” Mrs. Holmes told him.
“What does that sign say?”
“Now see here, this is a big story
and it’s getting bigger every hour.
You can’t shoot us for trying to get
the facts and—”
“Can’t I
“You knew Amos Ethridge, didn’t
you?”
“Perhaps,”
“You^ heard
night?”
“Did I?”
“That’s what you told the local re
porters. Come on, talk to us. We want
to get your picture, too.”
.“I've been talking to you and you
heard what I said.”-
“But, Mrs. Holmes—” —
“You want a picture, do you? Bah!
You’re all alike. .Vultures! Jackals!”
The woman’s voice rose in suddfen an
ger. “You read what these Westland
as/ the charge of bird shot mowed a
path through it. With a yell, the man
flung himself backwatd, leaving, a
fragment of his trousers Jeg upon the
fence. He picked himself .up and shook
a fist at the woman, shouting:
“You damned old harpy! I’ll have
you arrested for that! What d’you
mean, anyhow—?’’ ^ .
He p^sed as he beard the ominous
L. B. C^pesett Di^ At
Cross Aiw£or~Home
Gossett,' 60 < years
Tuesday night at his home near Cro^ “
Anchor after a week’s illness.
Mr. jGoss.fiU lived entire life
click of ^the sceond barrel, and-bar-ano"^ reared., He
riedly backed jdfi^er to the car. The! was a’ member of Yarborough’s Chap-
photographer .had made haste to.fol- el Methodist church. \
low him. V. He is survived by his widow, Mrs,
“Don’t let me eaten you climbing Othella Gossett; five_?hildren, Gen-
my fence again. I keep this gun for eral Lee, Alvin, Elizabeth, and Lucil^T
the shots, Thursday
‘Keep off. Reporters will be ahoC.*^
~r
to kiU Amos Etbeidgo eU wore
matters of pure conjecture. Questions
like these lent mystery to the affaff,
and that laconic, perfumed note which
might have ^been either a warning or
an assignations spiced it with a sug
gestion of scandal just sufficient to
Intensify general interest. ^
Mary Holmes dozed in her rocking
chair. She was aroused by the bla^
of- an autOtnobile horn And by the
sound of voices. A ^r in which were
papers said about me, didn’t you ?
Well,_get out!” - ' |
"Mr. Ethridge used this* road a good
deal, I understand. At night, I mean?
You probably saw or heard - his ear
that night? All we want is a brief
sUPtement from you.” Unobtrusively,
the speaker shifted his weight, lifted
himself further over the fence. “W’e
city men have^an altogether different
theory from these—”
The woman on the porch cocke<l her
shotgun and raised it, saying, grimly:
“I shall count three.”
“Oh, come now! Don’t be foolish.”
“One! Two!”
“Go ahead, Jim!” urged the camera
man. “She' can’t pull anything like
that. If she shoots you, it’ll maj(£ a
eorking picture.”
The trespa^er now had one ' leg
over the top strand of barbed wire
and he steadied himself upon a poet—
neither a graceful position nof one of
great stability. He was about to let
himself down inside the yard when
Mrs. Holmes cried:
“Three!”
Simultaneously she fired. The dry
grass and weeds beneath the teeter
ing figure exploded into a dusty cloud
hawks, but it wll do as well for buz
zards!” Mrs. H^ylmes’ voice was harsh
and strident; she appeared' to tower
higher as her rage mounted. “Poke
fun at me, will you? Well, you’ve got
something nasty to wriie now, so be
ks nasty as you can. You want to
know who killed^ Amos Ethridge, do
you? Rats! You don’t care»who killed
him- All you want is to choke your
filthy papers with scandal and lies
and dirt. It’s all you can write, all you
can think about. Lies!-Dirt!” She had
quite lost control of herself now and
broke Jnto. an incoherent torrent of
She checked, it only when
the objects of hei* wrath had slam
med the car door ^nd the machine
had rolled away.
When she was alone she, strode bacIT
into her house and^ stood the fowling-
piece in its corner, then tramped
about the'living Toom, her head high,
her back ,^raight, hei* deep bosom
heaving. Sc^ They’d get a story out
of her, would they? Publish her pic-
iture! Use her for a bit of local color,
] ridicule her, abuse he/! Well,
[ could give tl^m back as gooil as they
could send in the line of personal
abuse. The scum! The blackgardsl,.She
was sorry they had fled so swiftly—
while, h?r mouth was still so full and
her tongue so bitter. For once in their,
lives they had heard something which
they could remember^ They knew now
that she was no common country lout,
no mere “goose woman.”
As she reflected more- calmly upon
th^ encounter she felt some pride in
the_way she had carried it off. It had
been her scene; she had held the cen
ter of the stage and she had .played it
well—as well as anybody could play
such a scene, upon short notice. Aftet
all. only an artist can' rise to dramatic
heights; none but the finished actor
can portray sincere emotion. She, “a
bedraggled old hag!” Old, at forty--
five! “A drunken, ir'responsible char
acter of violent temper!.” She wished
now that' shie had shot that reporter
in the legs. —
The next day, not only the local
Westland papers, but also the big Chi
cago dailies, carried' amusing add
highly-colored accounts' of that shot
gun ^couhter, and Mrs. Holmes de
rived a grim 'enjoyment from reading
them. Again she flared into fury at
tba uncomplvoMatety tkia^a tkag aaki
about her; but indignation i-s a fire
that quickly bums itself out and it
gave her some satisfaction to read o-f
her victory. 'This satisfaction increas
ed as she -reread the stories. After a
while she experienced an actual tlmll
at realizing that she had become a
figure of importance in the biggest
news sensation of the day and the
people from Maine to California were
reading about her. They saw the name
Gossett, and Mrs. Orin Hembree, all
of Cross -AnchoV. He is'also survived
by tw’o brothers, General Gossett and
Barney Gossett of Cross Anchor.
Fneral services were held yester
day afternoorL.at 3:30 at Yarborough’s
Cha^l Methodist church, with inter
ment in the church cemetery.
HOSPITAL NEWS
F6r ALDERMAN
Ward Five
I hereby announce mysejf as a cai:t*
didate for Alderman from Ward
for- the Town of Clinton, subject to
the. result of the Democratic primary,
JOHN N. BIGHAM. .
666
Liquid - Tablets
Salve-* Noee
Drops
SALVE
for
COLDS
price
5Cf 10c, 25c
Born to Mr. and Mrs. J. Earle Hor-
ton,'a son, on March 17.
Mrs. C. F. Cobb has returned home
after an operation. - - - .
Mrs. W. L. Lake is improving fol
lowing an operation last week.
Mrs. O. J. Ezel^ has returned Rome
after" a'short illness.
J. F, Bennett is doing 'nicely after
an operation last week.
J. W. Nelson is improving following,
an operation here.
Mrs. Leroy South has returned
home after a week’s illness.
Mary
she I years!
would
fore.
Holmes.” And after twenty
She wondered if any of them
remember having seen it be-
(Continued Next Issue)
RUBBER
STAMPS
Any kind, to fit any
business. 24-hour ser
vice. Reasonable prices.
'^ Telephone 74.'
The Chronicle
Publishing Co.
Printers - Stationers
COUNTY TAX
N0TICE1
Pursuant to an order from the
troller General, the penalty of 3 per cent
on state and county taxes will be in effect
through April 15. After that date^ the tax
books will be closed and the penalty of 7
per cent and costs of $2.25 for each execu
tion will be added.^ '
I have no author!^ to change the penal
ty. Please make your payment before the
last few days. \
D. R. SIMPSON
County ’Treasuror
“vpatcirthe automobiles coming and go-,
ing and hear what the occupants said
when they stopped to stare at her
premises or to read her sign. Evident
ly "the term “goose woman” had stuck,
for she heard it over and over'again.
The manner in which it was used, the
laughter and the comment evoked by
her warning sign, -were so offensive
that she turned for comfort to her gin
bottle..
As to the crime istelf, it had cre
ated a genuine sensatiort The murder
of a man as prominent as Amos Eth
ridge was bound to prove frontpage
news, for he was more than a figure
of local imporuibce. To begin with, he
was, or had been, a man of immense
wealth—the rich^ man in. the whole
gtate — a political P<>w|H-, and in all
probability the next governor. More
over, the manner of his elaying, the
circunastaiKes suirounding it and the
evident ferocity of-bis assassin/ hid
rendered the crime peculiariy shock-
h^. He had been shot to dearth, rid-
4jBed with seven buUets, while tetum-
ii« to hk home kte Thursday night
His body had not been discovered un
til the folknutag momiiir; then it was
wi«g ia a iaaa whkh ooiUweted
« bibk immI nith the nw af hSa haad-
up to Ui^b-prieed car perfoniianee—w^ont the extra cost!
The tlirUl of driving ■ Ford V*8 eon be matched only in can
coating hnndreda of d<dlan more. The Ford V* 8 is responsive, bpicks
op more easily. At aU qteeda yon g^ the amooth, effortlem flour
^ower whidi means truly 6ne car performai^.
—And in a Ford V-8 yon get this performance at less eosL
In bringing the y*8 to the low price 6eld, Ford designed an engine,
which with the dnal downdraft carbnretor, timply takes the gas used
fay of similar size and ^lits it into eight eq^ charges. In fimt.
t^ Ford V*8 with its ^NU’kli^ peribrmanee and 8 cylinder smooth
ness is the mott economicai ear^ord everbuiU, Definite cost records
of large paseenger ear fleet owners show actual savings in the opera-
ti<m of the Ford V*8 over previous Ford models. *
Test this great ear yonrselC. Get behind the wheel and drive it. Feel
the thrill of modem ¥-8 j^rformanee. Then, remember, that it's over^
all economy is greater than thom -- « - ^ -
famons Ford modeb of past days. lOUT tOTd ^Uealer
Owner’s record shows --
n OPERATING'COSTS
AVERAGED—
41t ^
tJyan
r*ODEL
tmrm. tkrom.k V C C —
X month om unpaid hmiamm
pirn, inom
Standard areataarj gramp btdmMmg
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LESS
th»fi
MOftE!
huf^ptrt and tpmrm-t
ON THB All—S)raf.Mi,Or.hM<.^
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wwh-Pr.4 Vwtog. Tumdmjt am CBN.
Bri4.7§ aa NBC BIw N.>i».rh, yi.. M
MiM P. M. B.B.T.—U.li.4 PrM. Nmi
taodOndjCatatfuTM.. VBT
sprom ths vecortJs of a tiat«on»liy
'' Imown fiomDeayy dvar »totst optrs-
tieNior msr* than^0,000.000 milev.
' MR Ml ^
dSOm
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